Silva chastised for filing statements late

STOCKTON - Mayor-elect Anthony Silva has received a written warning from a state watchdog commission, reprimanding him for belatedly reporting his campaign finance statements.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - Mayor-elect Anthony Silva has received a written warning from a state watchdog commission, reprimanding him for belatedly reporting his campaign finance statements.

The Dec. 19 letter being made public today tells Silva, 39, that failing to follow these rules in the future could result in fines up to $5,000 for each violation.

Silva will pay nothing this time, but Gary Winuk, chief of the enforcement division of the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, said in the letter to Silva that the late filings didn't serve the public well.

In advance of that date, Silva missed the Oct. 25 deadline. He also was late filing a pre-election statement due May 24, before the June 5 primary election.

The most recent campaign filing revealed that aside from himself, Silva's largest backers were the city's public safety unions. Johnston raised more than double what Silva raised, but in the end, she trailed at the polls 18 percentage points behind Silva.

Winuk told Silva that the commission closed its file on him because he did eventually report his campaign statements to the office of the Stockton city clerk, the letter said.

"Since you won your election as the new mayor of Stockton, please note the importance and legal requirements to inform the public of your campaign contributions and expenditures," Winuk said. "This information must be filed in a timely manner."

Silva did not respond to The Record's requests seeking comment for this story.